Kodak's 4K action cam shoots VR-ready videos (in a pair)
You'll need two for truly spherical footage.
Spherical videos have been on Facebook and YouTube for a while now, but they're little more than a novelty. The medium should take on new meaning this year, however, once high-end VR headsets are on the market, which is why Kodak is introducing a 4K action camera today. A successor to the SP360, it's a petite cube with a 12.4-megapixel sensor and a dome-ish lens boasting a 235-degree field of view. It's designed for VR filmmakers and records in two modes -- "global," which captures an almost spherical image 360-degrees horizontally and 235-degrees vertically, or "front," which offers a more traditional wide-angle panorama in 16:9.
The "global" footage comes in a 1:1 aspect ratio, with a maximum resolution of 2880 x 2880 and 30 frames per second. In "front" mode, however, you can crank it up further to 4K (3840 x 2160). To make a truly spherical and VR-friendly film, you'll need to place two of these cameras back-to-back. (Unlike Nikon's rugged KeyMission 360.) Kodak will be selling a convenient double-pack which comes with a dual-camera mount and software to stitch the two feeds together. As you might expect, the SP360 4K also supports an array of lower-resolution video formats and still image modes. There's built-in WiFi connectivity too, which lets you control the camera remotely using an iOS or Android device.
A single camera costs $499, while the aforementioned double-pack is priced at $899. Compared to Google and GoPro's $15,000 Jump rig, it's certainly a more wallet-friendly option for early VR content creators.
